Reefing the main

I just bought a H 18 and want to be able to sail slow at times like when cruising or sailing with my little girl. I read the archives about not having good downhaul on the main in that situation if one uses the halyard and not hooking the ring. In addition one would have the additional stress on the mast of the halyard tension. I was thinking of having a spliced loop of low stretch rope that would shackle to the ring and allow the main to only hoist to the top of the aluminum comptip. I know that's a monster reef, but I don't want the luff to peel out of the track in the plastic comp tip. Even if the reef is too much for performance--who cares? The intent is to slow the boat down. That way one can furl the jib as a first reef, reef the main as a second reef with a full jib, and sail with a reefed main only as a third. If I'm not to shore by then, I'd be an idiot.

The intent is to take a performance boat and detune it for cruising and family sailing until my little girl is a bit older and can enjoy life on the wire.

Will that setup work OK? Matt? I saw in the archive that you cautioned not having the head of the sail in the luff track of the comp tip or it might peel outwhich would be a huge hassle.

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Dan St. Gean
'82 H 18
'96 H Wave

I think that what you're proposing could work. Obviously you won't be able to reef or unreef without completly lowering the sail first.

One issue may be getting the ring to hook on the halyard hook. I think this may be difficult. With the ring shackled to the sail in it's normal fashion, the sail steadies and aligns the ring so that when you rotate the mast to latch the ring, everything is in proper position. With a long extension of line holding the ring to the sail, the ring will probably twist when you rotate the mast. I would make sure you can get the latch/un-latch system to work satisfactorily before you go too far.

Also, if you want to run the sail higher than the top of the aluminum mast section, Hobie sell short lengths of aluminum luff track to replace the plastic luff track (about 12 or 18 inches). The sail won't pull out of the aluminum track. Figure out where you want the head of the sail to be, cut out a section of plastic luff track the length of the aluminum track, and install the aluminum track in it's place.

sm

If the boat is too much for your daughter then you're better off getting a more appropriate boat than clipping the wings of a boat not designed for it.

That said, this might sound dangerous and stupid and I'll probably get in trouble for suggesting it, but. . . how about riveting a halyard lock lower on the mast to the place where you want it?

I've got a wave too. That's already the slow boat in the fleet. Cruising the H18 might see some times where less sail might be appropriate too.

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Dan St. Gean
'82 H 18
'96 H Wave

[One issue may be getting the ring to hook on the halyard hook. I think this may be difficult. With the ring shackled to the sail in it's normal fashion, the sail steadies and aligns the ring so that when you rotate the mast to latch the ring, everything is in proper position. With a long extension of line holding the ring to the sail, the ring will probably twist when you rotate the mast. I would make sure you can get the latch/un-latch system to work satisfactorily before you go too far. ]

Very good point and one I'll check into. I think unlatching it would be relatively easy with that much line and the ability to go up or down with it, but hooking it may be harder than I think. I'll try with a short piece of line approximating the reef position.

I'm not sure why in every other boat one reefs and everyone calls it prudent seamanship--but here people jsut head for the beach or capsize frequently. Couldn't one just have the appropriate amount of sail for the conditions and not have to head for the beach?

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Dan St. Gean
'82 H 18
'96 H Wave

Reefing the main sounds pretty unnecessary to sail slow...

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Tiger 947/2364

FYI, I've tried to hook the halyard ring to the hook without the sail attached before. I simply tied the halyard to the bottom of the ring. It was very difficult to get the ring to hook because the ring would twist.

Also, I had thought about adding a second hook to the mast before too, but I don't think it's do-able. First off, you can't add the second hook anywhere on the comptip because the comptips are tapered, so the current hook wouldn't fit (unless you modified it or made a custom hook). But even if you did that, you would almost certainly pull the hook out of the comptip because there wouldn't be any backing plate behind the rivets (the head cap acts as a backing plate to the existing hook).

You could possibly add a hook the the aluminum section of the mast, but it would have to be the old style hook (for the reason stated above). But I think the bigger problem would be that the hook would poke into your mainsail when you're using the sail un-reefed.

sm

So how is the H21SC reefed? Can that method be copied on the 18?

Dan

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Dan St. Gean
'82 H 18
'96 H Wave

If I recall correctly, the 21SC uses a Hobie 16-style comptip with an external halyard and a metal stopper on the halyard. That system wouldn't work on an 18 (unless you were able to switch out the comptip for a H16 comptip).

sm

I saw an article in the Hobie magazine way back when, about a pair of H18's that sailed up the coast of South America (I think). One of the pictures showed a reefed main on one of the boats.
I'm not sure where one would get the idea that you would never have to reef a main but it seems like a necessisty to me.
I sail an H21SE with my wife, only two aboard makes the boat under-crewed which is not a problem most of the time, in fact it makes the boat incredibly fast in lighter winds. The 21SE carries a lot of sail. But we were forced in when it started to blow a bit without the extra counterweighting crew. We're not members of the "capsizing is fun" crowd.
So... I got my sailmaker to modify my main sail with cringles and the necessary reinforcing for a reef at the second batten, I think it was $150.
It is essential that you get the sail head below the comptip and into the aluminum part of the sailtrack. The rest is easy as you stated.
You simply make up a halyard extension out of low stretch line and use a nylon sail track slug at the ring to keep it aligned properly. Then you need some ties sewn on the sail to keep it rolled up.
You use a reefing hook at the clew where your sailmaker put the new cringle.
The only difference between this and ordinary reef setups is that you must pull the main fully down, attch the halyard extension, and raise it again. This can be a bit of a pain in a big wind, we do it on a beach beforehand. I've found that the time to reef is the first time I think about it. I've been very surprised at how fast the boat is with all that sail missing. It sails much flatter and is easier to control.
I just had Whirlwind make a new squarehead Pentex and dacron jib for my 21 and had the reef put in about a foot above the second batten. New sails and reefpoint are amazing.

That's almost exactly as I envisioned except for the slug which is also a great idea.

Dan

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Dan St. Gean
'82 H 18
'96 H Wave

I noticed a picture of an 18 here on the Hobie site that has what appears to be a reep point on the main.
http://www.hobiecat.com/sailing/gallery ... =02&res=hr
maybe someone knows the history on that boat and can explain it a bit for us

thanks guys for the insight. I'm going to try the slug/strop setup and modify my main with the reefing cringles. Why the reef hook over using the downhaul and halyard extension?

Dan

i used a 14 sail with my 18 . the best way to get the hook to grab and release is a piece of wire with a sail hook up on a shakle and the top on a regular halyard hook. have the wire measured to fit your reef and then have the pieces made with wire and loops. it works good once you get the feel for it.

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Rich Vilvens
F-18 5150
[email protected]
http://www.sailblogs.com/member/f-185150sailing/

Why not just furl the jib and sail it as a uni? Or have a smaller main made for the boat?